Reed type wind musical instrument



1955 T. K. LIVERSIDGE 2,725,70

REED TYPE WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed June '7, 1952 INVENTOR. THOMAS K. LIVERSIDGE ATTORNEY.

United States PatentOfiice Patented Dec. 6, 1955 This invention relates to musical instruments of thereed type and more particularly to an improved instru ment having a slidable portion under the control of the user for producing musical sounds.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a musical instrument of the character aforesaid certain of the parts of which can be molded from synthetic plastic material, and which has a minimum number of parts.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a musical instrument of the character aforesaid which is simple and easy to operate, and which is particularly attractive to children.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a musical instrument of the character aforesaid in which a single molded reed plate of synthetic plastic material having a plurality of reeds of different pitch integral therewith may be advantageously employed.

Other objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the specification and claims.

The nature and characteristic features of. the invention will be more readily understood from the following description, taken in connection with theacccmpanying drawings, forming part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a musical instrument in accordance with the present invention, parts being broken away to show the details of construction, and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken approximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. i.

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawings herein are illustrative merely and that various modifications and changes may be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated, a mouthpiece is provided, preferably formed integral with a hollow cylindrical body 11. The mouthpiece 10 thus extends outwardly from one side of the body 11 and so that its longitudinal axis is substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of the body 11. The mouthpiece 10 has an interior passageway 12 for purposes to be explained.

The body 11 is also provided, opposite to the mouthpiece, with an integral hollow expanding delivery tube 13 on the outer end of which a more widely flaring horn 14 is provided for amplification.

The body 11, mouthpiece 10, tube 13 and horn 14 are preferably molded from synthetic plastic material of any desired type and color.

The body 11 is adapted for the reception of a tube 15 which preferably is cylindrical on the exterior or of any other desired cross sectional shape the exterior of which is complemental to the interior of the body 11 and with a sufficient clearance therebetween to permit of sliding the tube 15 in a longitudinal axial direction.

Within the interior of the tube 15 a reed plate 16 is provided, which may be of any desired type, but preferably comprises a single plate extending from end to end in the tube 15 land in engagement along its-longitudinaiedges with the interior walls ofthe tube 15. The reed platev 16 is provided at spaced intervals along its length and on one side thereof with reeds 17 each. of diiferent predetermined pitch but preferably to cover the range of one octave. The reeds 17 may be axially alined.

Interior transverse partition walls 18 are provided within the tube 15 at spaced intervals along the reed plate 16 and between the respective reeds 17 to provide within the interior of the tube 15 a inlet chambers 19 and a chambers 20.

The tube 15 is preferably provided with a plurality of openings 21 in communication with the inlet chambers 19 and for selective alinement with the passageway 12 of the mouthpiece 10. The tube 15, opposite the openings 21, is also provided with a plurality of openings 22 in communication with the outlet chambers 20 and for selective communication with the delivery tube 13.

The tube 15, at one end is preferably closed by a closure plug 23 having a rim 24 extending outwardly to a suflicient extent to serve as a stop for abutment against one end of the body 11, thus preventing the withdrawal of the tube 15 after assembly. The tube 15, at the other end is preferably provided with a closure plug 25 having a rim 26 to serve as a stop for abutment against the other end of the body 11 and for thus limiting movement of the tube 15 at the other end of its path.

The closure plug 25 is preferably provided with a handle 27 for manual manipulation of the tube 15 to aline the desired opening 21 and its associated reed 17 with the mouthpiece 10.

Upon manual manipulation of the tube 15, by the handle 27, and selective positioning of the tube 15 the successively selected reeds 17 may be activated by blowing through the mouthpiece 10.

I claim:

1. A musical instrument comprising a hollow cylindrical body open at its ends and having a mouthpiece extending from one side thereof with an interior passageway communicating with the interior of said body portion, and an outlet portion extending from the other side thereof, said outlet portion having an interior passageway aligned with said mouthpiece passageway, a tubular slide member longitudinally axially slidable in said body and having a reed plate longitudinally and diametrically disposed therein with the edges of the plate engaging the interior face of the slide member, a plurality of vibratory reeds integral with said reed plate, a

plurality of separated plurality of separated outlet plurality of transverse partitions axially disposed in the interior of said slide member and providing with said reed plate a pair of chambers one on each side of each reed, said tubular member having openings in communication respectively with each of said chambers for selective alignment with said mouthpiece passageway and said outlet portion passageway.

2. A musical instrument comprising a hollow cylindrical body having a mouthpiece with its longitudinal axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the body and an amplifying horn oppositely disposed with respect to said mouthpiece, said mouthpiece and said horn having aligned interior passageways, a cylindrical slide member mounted in said body portion and longitudinally axially slidable axially of said body, said slide member having a reed plate longitudinally disposed in the interior thereof with its edges engaging the interior face of the slide member, a plurality of vibratory reeds integral with said reed plate and longitudinally disposed in said slide member, a plurality of transverse partition walls in said slide member said delivery chambers being adapted for communicabetween and providing separate inlet and delivery chamtion with said horn passageway. bers for each of said reeds, the endmost partition walls having enlargements for limiting the movement of said References Cited in the file of this Patent slide member and one of said endmost Walls having a han- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS dle extension thereon, said slide member having open- 1,518,257 Dusinberre Dec 9' 1924 ings for each of said reeds in communication with said chambers, the openings for said inlet chambers being FOREIGN PATENTS adapted for selective communication with said mouth- 256,518 Germany Feb. 12,- 1913 piece passageway and the corresponding openings for 0 920,726 France Jan. 4, 1947 

